According to investigators, Michael Haight, 42, killed seven family members before shooting himself in the head in the family’s Enoch City home about two weeks after his wife filed for divorce.
The police had “been involved in some investigations with the family a couple of years earlier,” according to Enoch City Police Chief Jackson Ames at the press conference. He replied that we were acquainted with the family but did not elaborate.
He maintained that the Police had not recently been called to the House. The officials did not reveal what kind of weapon Mr. Haight used in the crimes.
Michael Haight, 42, allegedly shot seven family members to death before turning the gun on himself at the family’s Enoch City home about two weeks after his wife demanded a divorce.
Michael Haight: Who Was He? Utah father murders his five children, wife, and mother-in-law.
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Officials reported Thursday that a 42-year-old man shot and killed himself after killing his wife, five children, and mother-in-law inside their rural Utah home earlier this week.
Authorities believe Michael Haight murdered the other seven family members before committing suicide inside the family’s Enoch City home, about 250 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.
According to officials, all eight deaths were discovered on Wednesday after Mr. Haight’s wife, Tausha Haight, 40, missed a meeting with someone who subsequently contacted the Police.
At a news conference on Thursday, Enoch City Mayor Geoffrey Chesnut revealed that Ms. Haight filed for divorce from Mr. Haight on December 21 and that her mother, Gail Earl, 78, who was also deceased, had been “giving assistance through the challenges that they were having.”
The five children that perished included a 17-year-old girl, a 12-year-old girl, a 7-year-old girl, a 7-year-old boy, and a 4-year-old boy; their names were not disclosed.
Mr. Chesnut, who described the shock and damage of Enoch City, which has a population of about 8,000 people, spoke while crying.
He stated that the Heights and his family shared a neighboring property, and that their youngest children played in his yard with his children.
The Public’s Reaction to the Murder
Neighbors characterized Enoch City as a tight-knit community with a lot of youngsters where houses rarely go on the market.
Children routinely play in the area where the victims were discovered, and neighbors wave hello and offer to shovel snow for one another.
During the press conference, the city manager, Rob Dotson, also burst into tears and stated that the entire community felt the same way.
We have no idea why this happened, he explained. “I doubt anyone will ever know what was going through these people’s minds.”
We do know that we loved them and considered them friends and neighbors.
According to a statement posted on the Iron County School District’s website on Wednesday, the five children were all pupils there.
According to a district official, psychologists and therapists were sent out to help students deal with the fatalities, and “quite a few” children were absent from class on Thursday due to the community’s mourning.
Richard Jensen, a local politician, said in an interview on Wednesday that he had cried sporadically during the night after learning of the shooting.
He stated that he was able to gather enough strength to explain what had happened to his 11-year-old son so that he would not have to learn about it in school.
According to Mr. Jensen, who described the victim as a respected religious and communal leader, this startled everyone.
Aaron Diamond, an Enoch City resident, said that he knew the victims personally because they attended his church.
